Hamlet Act I Questions and Answers

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Chung

Jacqueline Chung

Ms. Ledman

AP Literature

5 March 2012

Hamlet Act I

1. How do the setting and events and style of the first several lines of Act I, scene 1, establish a mood of foreshadowing or impending disaster? Cite and explain specific words, details, techniques, and events.

        Within the first few lines of the Act I of Hamlet, Shakespeare already establishes a tense, dark atmosphere when two soldiers, Barnardo and Francisco, exchange a few words about their guard shifts on the platform of the Elsinore castle at midnight in Denmark and Francisco describes his shift: “’Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart”  (I.i.7-8). The cold, dark, and depressing atmosphere shares the negative connotation with evil since cold and darkness are usually considered evil, which foreshadows the evilness within the play.  The atmosphere then further heightens when Horatio and Marcellus accompany Barnardo on guard duty and Marcellus asks if “this thing appeared again tonight,” the “thing” representing the ghost that Bernardo and Marcellus encountered a few times in the past.  The ghost suddenly appears and Barnardo describes the ghost as “the same figure like the king that’s dead,” Hamlet’s father who passed away not too long ago (I.i.41).  The presence of the ghost establishes the mood of impending disaster because a ghost appears for one of three reasons: an omen, unfinished business, or buried treasure, which further supports the mysterious, eerie atmosphere already set.

        Shakespeare again establishes the mood of foreshadowing when he introduces the theme of identity that will be traced throughout the book through Hamlet, but first introduced Francisco and Barnardo: “Who’s there?” (I.i.1). This line, said by Barnardo, is repeated by Francisco when Horatio and Marcellus come to join Barnardo in his shift. The questioning of identity foreshadows Hamlet’s search for his manhood.

2. What evidence can you find in Claudius’s speeches in Act I, scene 2 that show him to be self-protective, political, pragmatic, and hypocritical? Use quotes.

        In Act I, scene 2, Claudius gives two speeches, one to the gentry and one to Hamlet, that show himself to be self-protective, political, pragmatic, and hypocritical.  In his first speech, Claudius establishes that he’s self-protective when he basically describes himself as two-faced: “With an auspicious and a dropping eye, With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage” (I.ii.11-12). When Claudius says this quote, Claudius also reveals a hypocritical side of him because he created a distorted image of himself and believe happiness is in a funeral, the death of his brother, King Hamlet, and yet acts pompous throughout this speech to show that he is fitted for king.  Claudius furthers his hypocritical state when he reinforces the incest in his family when he marries Queen Gertrude: “Therefore our sometime sister, now our Queen, Th’ imperial jointress to this warlike state” (I.ii.7-9). The gentry also approves the marriage when Claudius gives “our thanks” which legitimizes the incest marriage once again.

Within this speech, Claudius enacts on his political job by speaking to Cornelius and Voltemand to send a message to the Prince of Norway, Fortinbras: “He hath not failed to pester us with message, importing the surrender of those lands…the lists, and full proportions are all made out of his subject” (I.ii.23-33). Claudius tries to send Fortinbras a message to try to stop him, making Claudius himself seem like he made a wise, diplomatic solution to prevent war.  Claudius also executes his king-like stature by expressing that during the lame duck session, “our state to be disjoint and out of frame” and hopes to change the status of Denmark during his illegitimate reign.

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        In Claudius’s second speech to Hamlet, Claudius shows himself as pragmatic yet hypocritical and self-protective. After Hamlet’s father’s death, Hamlet still mourns and Claudius humiliates him in front of the gentry, affirming the noble’s correct decision on making Claudius the king instead of Hamlet since Denmark used the electoral system to elect its king.  Claudius proves himself to be pragmatic when he explains to Hamlet his long-period of mourning: “But you must know your father lost a father, That father lost, lost his” (I.ii.89-90).  However, Claudius becomes self-protective as he humiliates Hamlet by denying his manhood twice: “’Tis sweet and ...

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